The present invention is directed to an actuator for the coupler knuckle-connection of a railway passenger car. Conventional railway passenger cars are coupled together by mating couplers on adjoining ends of the passenger cars, which are locked into position by the coupler knuckle. For decoupling the cars, the knuckles are first manually or pneumatically pivoted into the lock-set position, which permits the knuckles to be rotated; after lock-set has been attained, the two cars are then completely decoupled by the relative movement of the two railway cars. During coupling, rotation of the knuckles via the abutting railway cars causes the knuckles to rotate from their completely pivoted open state to the closed, locked state.
Conventional coupler knuckle-assemblies are sometimes actuated by a pneumatic system which is typically controlled from the interior of the passenger car. The pneumatic system uses an air-actuated piston for rotating the operating lever arm of the knuckle-assembly, with the piston being located along the shank of the coupler that connects the coupler knuckle-assembly to the car frame. Such a conventional arrangement provides marginal space for mounting the piston and associated linkage along the connecting shank. However, recent developments have altered the tight-fitting arrangement, in that the conventional shank has been replaced in some cars, especially British railway passenger cars, by a much larger cross-sectional shank that has a hydraulic-cushioning mechanism associated therewith, which helps to prevent injury and deaths during a train accident. Owing to this much larger cross-sectional, hydraulic-cushioning shank, the conventional piston and actuating linkage system can no longer be accommodated along the shank within the available space. The present invention provides a new type of linkage-actuator that is readily accommodated by the new hydraulic-cushioning shanks, and provides a simple and lighter weight arrangement for conventional shanks.